Stock market today: Dow plunges 2,200 points, Nasdaq enters bear market as Trump tariffs spark worst meltdown since 2020

US stocks cratered on Friday as an escalating trade war sparked recession fears.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite (^IXIC) dropped 5.8% to close in bear market territory, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJI) pulled back 5.5%.

The S&P 500 (^GSPC) sank nearly 6% as the broad-based benchmark capped its worst week since March 2020. Over the past two days, the S&P 500 has lost more than 10%.

The fast-moving sell-off started once President Trump announced sweeping tariffs against US trading partners on Wednesday.

On Friday, China announced retaliatory tariffs against the US, further deepening fears of a global recession spared by a trade war.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent came out in defense of Trump’s policies during an interview as stocks worldwide reacted to the President’s sweeping tariff announcement.

“The markets go up and down,” said Bessent. “For everyone who thinks these market declines are all based on the President’s economic policies, I can tell you that this market decline started with the Chinese AI announcement of DeepSeek,” Bessent told Carlson in an interview recorded on Thursday and released on Friday afternoon.

“If I were the analyze in my old hat…what’s happening with the market, I’d say it’s more a Mag 7 problem, not a MAGA problem,” said Bessent.

Some of the ‘Magnificent 7’ high flyers experienced a sharp decline in late January after the release of Chinese startup DeepSeek’s AI chatbot raised questions about valuations and lofty spending on artificial intelligence.

On Friday, ‘Mag 7’ components Nvidia and Tesla were leading to the downside. The AI chip maker dropped 8%, while the EV maker tanked 10%. The trade war sparked fears of a recession, and investors headed for the exits.

The S&P 500 was headed for its worst week since 2020 after China retaliated against the broad tariffs announced this week.

In about a month, investors will find out if Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway (BRK-B, BRK-A) deployed cash during a challenging first quarter for markets.

Yahoo Finance’s Myles Udland reports:

Read more here.

Stocks moved to session lows in afternoon trading as the Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI) plummeted 4.9%, or as much as 2,000 points. The blue-chip index was on pace to close in correction territory as an escalating trade war prompted a market-wide sell-off.

The S&P 500 (^GSPC) sank about 5.5%, as the broad-based benchmark was headed for its worst week since 2020. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite (^IXIC) dropped around 5.5%, on track to close in bear market territory.

Every sector of the S&P 500 was in the red with more than an hour left of trading.

Stocks have plummeted since President Trump’s tariffs announced on Wednesday sparked worries of a recession as a global trade war intensifies.

Bitcoin (BTC-USD) rose more than 3% over the past 24 hours as stocks sold off, prompting questions over whether the world’s largest cryptocurrency was unlinking from other risk assets.

Bitcoin hovered above $84,000 on Friday afternoon while the S&P 500 was on track for its worst week since 2020.

The cryptocurrency fell from around $86,000 on Wednesday following President Trump’s retaliatory tariff announcement to around $81,000 on Thursday morning. The token has since then partially recovered as the rest of the market continued sliding.

While investors may see it as a sign of unlinking from risky assets, one strategist warns it’s too early of a call.

“I wouldn’t jump to any decoupling conclusions just yet,” Sean Farrell, head of digital asset strategy at FundStrat said in a video to clients on Thursday. “There is likely a massive corporate treasury bid likely taking place right now from GME, MicroStrategy, and … its possible that Marathon is also buying.”

Strategy (MSTR), formally known as MicroStrategy, has been the biggest corporate buyer of bitcoin. Meanwhile, GameStop (GME) recently announced its board “has unanimously approved” to add bitcoin as a treasury reserve asset.

On Friday GME stock soared 11% after it was disclosed that CEO Ryan Cohen bought 500,000 shares of the video game retailer, at $22.50 each.

Yahoo Finance’s Dan Howely and Alexis Keenan report:

Read more here.

Several initial public offerings have been put on hold as investors grappled with a sharp sell-off across global markets over the past two days.

Ticket platform StubHub delayed its road show presentations slated for next week, according to a report from the Wall Street Journal.

Meanwhile digital payments firm Klarna (KLAR.PVT), fintech company Chime (CHIM.PVT), and ad tech company MNTN also reportedly hit the pause button on going public in the wake of President Trump’s sweeping tariff announcement earlier this week.

Stocks sold off over the past two days as investors assess the impact an escalating trade war will have on economic growth.

It turns out there’s a reason Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell always wears a purple tie at his press conferences.

“At the beginning, the only significance was that I liked purple ties,” Powell quipped during a moderated Q&A interview on Friday. “But I will say, for the next press conference, I reached for a blue tie or a red tie, and [went], ‘Maybe not, you know?'”

Powell said the importance of Fed independence served as a key catalyst for his color selection.

Historically, “red” is a color most often associated with Republicans while “blue” is associated with Democrats.

“We are strictly nonpolitical. I can’t stress that enough,” Powell said. “It’s not that we’re bipartisan. We are nonpolitical. We don’t do that. And so purple was a good color for that. That’s all. Plus, I like purple ties.”

The timing of Powell’s comments came as the Fed chair was once again prodded by the president to lower interest rates.

Prior to Powell’s speech, President Trump posted on Truth Social that now “would be the PERFECT time” for the central bank leader to cut rates.

“He is always ‘late,’ but he could now change his image, and quickly,” Trump said. “Energy prices are down, Interest Rates are down, Inflation is down, even Eggs are down 69%, and Jobs are UP, all within two months – A BIG WIN for America. CUT INTEREST RATES, JEROME, AND STOP PLAYING POLITICS!”

Read more here.

Yahoo Finance’s Brian Sozzi reports:

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Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell noted on Friday that inflation stemming from tariffs may not be as temporary as initially thought.

While speaking to the Society for Advancing Business Editing and Writing conference in Arlington, Va., Powell said, “It is now becoming clear that tariff increases will be significantly larger than expected, and the same is likely to be true of the economic effects, which will include higher inflation and slower growth.”

“While tariffs are highly likely to generate at least a temporary rise in inflation, it’s also possible that the effects could be more persistent,” Powell added. “Avoiding that outcome will depend on keeping longer-term inflation expectations well anchored, on the size of the effects, and on how long it takes for them to pass through fully to prices.”

Read more about Powell’s remarks here or watch the livestream of Powell’s remarks below:

Nike (NKE) jumped as much as 5% after President Trump confirmed he spoke with Vietnam’s top leader To Lam on Friday. Trump said that Vietnam wants to lower its tariffs to zero if it can reach an agreement with the US.

“Just had a very productive call with To Lam, General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam, who told me that Vietnam wants to cut their Tariffs down to ZERO if they are able to make an agreement with the U.S.,” Trump posted on social media. “I thanked him on behalf of our Country, and said I look forward to a meeting in the near future.”

Trump announced a 46% tariff on imports from Vietnam on Wednesday as part of a broad reciprocal tariff plan on the US’s trading partners worldwide. Nike sources 44% of its products from Vietnam.

Nike stock dropped 14% on Thursday following the “Liberation Day” tariff announcement as investors saw footwear companies as particularly challenged under the new trade regime.

Shares of DuPont (DD) slumped 16% after China hit the chemicals and materials manufacturer with a competition probe, as Beijing retaliated to Trump’s tariffs.

Regulators have started an anti-monopoly investigation into the Chinese subsidiary of DuPont, with the move coming alongside a 34% tariff hike on US goods and other measures in response to Trump’s trade offensive.

The US chemicals and materials producer already faces headwinds from those US tariffs themselves, given it reportedly has manufacturing facilities in several Chinese cities.

Tesla losses steepened on Friday morning, sinking more than 11% as a global trade war intensified and the market tanked.

Nvidia shares dropped more than 8% as the Nasdaq Composite (^IXIC) sank more than 5.3%.

Iphone maker Apple (^AAPL) also sank more than 5%.

Loss on all three major averages accelerated on Friday with the Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI) tanking more than 1,300 points and the S&P 500 (^GSPC) on pace to notch its worst week since 2020.

Meanwhile, the Nasdaq Composite (^IXIC) dropped more than 4.4%. The tech-heavy index was on pace to close in bear market territory, or more than 20% off its all-time record in February.

All 11 sectors of the S&P 500 were lower, with Energy stocks leading the declines as oil tumbled. Financials also sank along with Industrials, Tech, and Consumer Discretionary stocks.

Yahoo Finance’s Brian Sozzi scoured the Wall Street community’s avalanche of research notes from the past 48 hours to see what analysts are saying about the winners and losers of President Trump’s trade war.

First up, the good news. Analysts at Evercore ISI and RBC Capital Markets found seven stocks that are relatively tariff-proof.

They noted that auto parts sellers like Genuine Parts Company (GPC) and O’Reilly Automotive (ORLY) are well-positioned for tariffs. Some cheaper software names, such as Microsoft (MSFT), Salesforce (CRM), Intuit (INTU), Workday (WDAY), and Adobe (ADBE), may also be relatively safe bets.

“While there are no ‘safe havens’ … we believe companies that are already back to their 2022 trough multiple on enterprise value/free cash flow or price-to-earnings are probably a bit safer (on a relative basis),” Evercore ISI analyst Kirk Materne wrote.

Read more about the seven tariff-proof stocks here.

However, sentiment on a legion of other names has rapidly shifted. Apple (AAPL) and Nvidia (NVDA) immediately come to mind, but as Sozzi notes, there are some less obvious names also getting bruised.

Citi and Evercore ISI analysts named internet companies with significant exposure to discretionary spending, such as Shopify (SHOP), Airbnb (ABNB), Booking Holdings (BKNG), eBay (EBAY), Etsy (ETSY), Trade Desk (TTD), Snap (SNAP), Roku (ROKU), as at risk. The analysts were also down on Wayfair (W) and Best Buy (BBY), which mostly source products from China.

Read more about the 10 stocks Wall Street hates here.

Yahoo Finance’s Alexandra Canal reports:

Read more here.

Nvidia (NVDA) and Tesla (TSLA) led the Nasdaq Composite (^IXIC) lower on Friday as megacaps sold off for a second day in a war amid a global trade war.

Shares of AI chipmaker Nvidia declined about 4% while EV maker Tesla fell more than 5%.

The declines come after stocks suffered their worst daily performance since 2020. On Friday, the S&P 500 was headed toward its worst week since March 2020.

US stocks opened sharply lower for a second day in a row after China retaliated against US tariffs in an escalating trade war, as Wall Street analysts warned about the rising risk of a recession.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI) sank around 2.2%, or about 1,000 points, while the S&P 500 (^GSPC) plummeted about 2.3%. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite (^IXIC) dropped more than 2.8% after the three major averages suffered their worst day since 2020 on Thursday.

China said it will impose additional tariffs against US-made imports in reaction to President Trump’s escalated duties revealed on Wednesday.

Trump’s reciprocal tariffs announcement sparked fears of a trade war and the risk of a recession.

“The tariffs, if they stay in place, would be a big hit to the US and global growth, likely pushing the US and global economy into recession this year,” JPMorgan’s Natasha Kaneva said in a Friday note.

Oil futures tanked more than 7% in early trading as concerns about cratering demand rose.

Yahoo Finance’s Josh Schafer reports:

Read more here.

Futures on the major averages were off premarket lows but still sharply lower after China announced retaliatory tariffs of 34% on US imports in reaction to President Trump’s sweeping levies on its trading partners around the world.

Dow futures were down more than 1000 points, after dropping 1,400 points earlier in premarket trading. Futures on the S&P 500 trimmed losses to drop 2.6%.

European stocks continued slumping Friday as a widespread global sell-off over growing recession fears and escalating trade wars kicked up a notch.

The pan-European Stoxx 600 (^STOXX) and Germany’s DAX (^GDAXI) both fell 4.7%. Meanwhile, the CAC (^FCHI) in Paris dropped 4.2%. In London, the benchmark index (^FTSE) was down 3.8%.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said the European Union was preparing a package of countermeasures against the US if trade talks fail. On Thursday, French President Emmanuel Macron also indicated the Europe would hit back, calling for European companies to suspend planned investment in the United States. And the UK indicated it planned to take a tougher stance on trade as well.

European stocks are headed for their biggest weekly loss in three years. However, US stocks fared worse on Thursday as investors grappled with President Trump’s sweeping reciprocal tariff plan (see chart below).